Mt. Sherman

Mt. Sherman was my 2nd 14er. I reached the summit of Mt. Harvard 1 week prior. We started around 8:00 am. The first 1/2 mile of the hike was mostly a walk in the park. There are several old mining buildings along the trail. When we reached the first one, there was a fork in the trail. Our good friend, Jim Lierman, was with us on the hike, and he knew our options at that point. The standard route, which is mostly walking on a nice wide trail, went to the right. To the left, the trail was more steep, but cut off a fair amount of time. We opted to go to the left, and save ourselves time, in hopes that we may also summit Mt. Sheridan . There were several snow banks for us to cross along the way until we reached the ridge, which was mostly loose rocks. We reached the summit around 10:00. We ate lunch at the top, and decided our next move. We chose to descend the ridge and evaluate the situation at that point. There was a large cloud hovering over the summit and ridge of the mountain. As we know, Colorado is infamous for mid day rain storms. We decided not to summit Sheridan, but to find a good glascade to speed up our descent. What a fun experience! We hit 2 great glascades on our way down. I had never done one before, so it was an experience to learn from as well. My butt was soaking wet, as were my feet. Next time, I will use gaiters. Luckily, my dad, Aaron Johnson, always taught me that the most important thing about climbing is your socks, so, I had 3 extra pairs, and my feet were happy. My butt dried off before we reached our vehicles. This is a very fun hike, and a great 14er to do in a 1/2 day. It was, however, crowded, likely due to the 4th of July weekend. I will likely do this hike again, and recommend it to other beginners. Be safe and have fun!